A Heart Within the Void
by Liam Eronmac Shaw
Summary: A short fanfic I wrote. It describes a possible romance between Corvo and Cecelia. Cecelia is revealed to have a dark secret, and they both fight their way out of the Hound Pits after the Loyalists turn on them.
1. Chapter 1

Corvo struggled to sit up, but his wounds were too great. He heard the boat engines stop, and was able to turn over to see the Hound Pit's Pub. A sanctuary, if ever there was one in this cursed city. They tied up to the pier, and Samuel hoisted Corvo out of the boat and into Havelock and Martin's arms, who quickly carried him inside.

"What happened?" Havelock quickly asked.

"Corvo thought it would be a good idea to tranquilize the Lord Regent, throw him over his shoulder, and toss him from the top of Dunwall Tower. It worked, and made quite a spectacle, but the ensuing chaos resulted in half the guards turning on the other half. Corvo was able to get away, but right as he got to me, a guard shot him. He fell in the water, and I guess the watchman mistook him for dead. I was able to get him onto the boat and speed away. I think I was spotted, but they were too busy to do anything about it."

"Well, as long as you weren't followed, that's good. Now let's see to Corvo..." At this point, Corvo was losing consciousness. He slipped into a deep sleep, but stayed awake just long enough to hear Lydia say "Cecelia, help me out here".

Corvo woke up in his bed, with his chest still sore. He saw Cecelia approach him.

"Are you alright? Lydia had some healing training, but she had never used it before"

Corvo felt his wounds. They were completely healed up. But there were now stitch marks, no scar. The wound was simply gone. And what was more, Corvo could feel the residual energies of... the Outsider. He then wondered why Cecelia always wore gloves.

"Cecelia, can I ask you something?"

"S-sure." She said, somewhat nervously.

"Can you take off your gloves? I want to see your hands." At this, her eyes widened in shock and fear, then her face became blank, almost as if it was trained to hide her emotions. Now Corvo was convinced. He threw his hand up, and instantly the world around him stopped moving. Cecelia, however, continued to move, and her hand underneath her glove seemed to glow. Cecelia was shocked.

"You-you have the Mark as well? I thought I was the only one."

"No. There are others like us. And we each have different powers. I can travel long distances in the blink of an eye, I can see things not normally visible. I can stop time, throw objects away from me, and summon swarms of rats."

"I can heal any wound, be it mine or another's. I can also stop time, and I can detect people's true intents. What they are planning, what their true emotions are, I can see it."

"It must be unsettling, having the High Overseer just a couple of rooms away. I know that I constantly make sure not to use my powers while Martin is around."

"It is somewhat unnerving, but I can see into his heart, and I know that he does not suspect a thing about me or you. I scrutinized his mind, and saw almost no notion that he distrusts you."

"Well...thank you. I didn't know you cared that much."

"Well...you are...very important to the Loyalists and..." Cecelia was stammering, and her face was turning almost as red as her hair.

"Whats wrong?" Corvo was wondering what was causing this embarrassment.

"Well... I sort of like you. I mean, Havelock likes you as a soldier, and Piero likes you as a tester of his inventions, but I...feel attracted to you. You are mysterious and dark, but also strong and swift. You move like a shadow, and you are one of the few others who hides a secret as great as ours. I love you, Corvo Attano." Corvo was slightly shocked by this unexpected revealing. He then did something even more unexpected- he grabbed Cecelia by the arms, pulled her in, and kissed her. For one single second, she was shocked, then she returned the kiss. They wrapped their arms around each other and tightened their grip. For almost 2 hours, they released infinite amounts of passion onto each other.

Eventually, Wallace came up to check on them. He saw Corvo and Cecelia lying in bed, stripped down to their undergarments, snug in each others arms. He told them that if Corvo was healthy enough, they would start the celebrations. They dressed and headed down to see the Hound Pits Pub alive with color and celebration.

"Congratulations to Corvo Attano, the man who slew the scum of Dunwall! Hail Emily Kaldwin, the Empress, and a rising dawn for the Empire!" Lord Pendleton was the more poetic one, but he mirrored the feelings of everyone. They were all so happy to be free of Hiram Burrow's tyranny, and hoped that the dark days of the rat plague were behind them. At least, that was what it seemed like. As Corvo turned to face Cecelia, he saw that she had a worried look on her face. She quickly pulled him off to the side.

"What's wrong" Corvo felt he already knew the answer, knowing Cecelia's powers.

"Havelock, Pendleton, Martin. They've all got heaps of deception in their hearts. They're planning something."

"Can you see what it is?"

"No, but it can't be good. We should be ready to escape."

"Wait. These are our allies. Besides, they know what I am capable of."


	2. Chapter 2

As they drank and sang into the late hours of the night, Corvo and Cecelia eventually excused themselves. Corvo felt he must have drunk a lot more than he remembered, because the world had turned a shade of grey, and seemed like it was underwater. Just as they were almost at the bed, Corvo fell to the ground.

"Corvo, get up. We're almost there." Cecelia said playfully.

"I'm trying. Must have had too much. The Hound Pits make strong…OW!" The wobbling in his stomach had turned to sharp pain, his throat dried up, and Corvo could feel himself losing consciousness.

"Corvo!" Cecelia must have realized something was wrong, because she dropped down, tore off her glove, and several tendrils of smoke shot from her hand onto Corvo's body. He felt the pain alleviate, first in his stomach, then his neck as she moved the smoke up, and finally his head as her hand came to rest on his cheek. They looked into each others eyes, and simoltaneously realized the same thing. Poison. Someone in the Loyalists had tried to poison Corvo. Then, they heard footsteps.

Corvo quickly realized what their intent was. He grabbed Cecelia's arm and said "Become a shadow. Hide. If they try to harm me, I can stop them." Cecelia looked loath to abandon her lover, then agreed. She kissed him once on the lips, then vanished, her form dissolving into her shadow. Just as she dissapeared, Havelock burst into the room, followed by Pendleton, Martin, and Samuel.

"Samuel, you look like you've been drinking. Did the poison work?"

"Indeed it did, sir. Corvo should be dead by now."

"Good. Where's his girlfriend? We need all of them dead."

At this point, Pendleton chimed in "I saw him take her upstairs to this room. I can only assume that she is clsoe by. " Martin said he'd have his men look for Cecelia, then left with Samuel. Havelock got out his cutlass.

"I'm sorry, Corvo. If there was any other way, I would keep you alive and working for us. But you would never agree with what we plan to do, and you would never let us mainupulate Emily. So this is goodbye." He raised the blade, but then a voice stopped him. It was Lord Pendleton crying out, then the breaking of glass. Havelock raced into the next room, allowing Corvo to stand up and follow him. He turned his head around the corner to see Cecelia holding out her hand, and Pendleton outside the window, hovering above the street.

"Put the noble down, girl." Havelock was slowly advancing on Cecelia. Corvo snuck up behind him, and knocked him down to the ground. Cecelia threw Pendleton down to the ground, where he stumbled away. Corvo grabbed Havelock by the neck and held him against the wall.

"Why did you try to kill me? I helped you. I was your friend. Together, we could have destroyed our enemies and rebuilt Dunwall."

"What you've done, in our name and in Emily's, is too much for us to ever spare you. You must seem to be a madman, who tore apart the Lord Regent out of pure rage and vengence. Only then can we fully assert our power and take control of Emily."

"Well, it seems your efforts were all for naught. Emily will rise to power, only without you. Cecelia, get to Emily's room and grab her. We need to leave." As Cecelia ran out, Corvo followed her. As he was about to leave the room, he turned around, and looked at Havelock. The admiral was getting back on his feet, and seemed to be going for his pistol. Corvo raised his hand, and a black pool appeared beneath Havelock. From out of this pool rose a swarm of rats, who proceeded to slwoly devour Havelock. Corvo headed to the docks, where Cecelia met him.

"Corvo! They've moved Emilly. Everyone else is dead."

"But who killed them? Havelock is dead.." Just then, the speakers that covered the city blared an announcement that stopped Corvo dead in his tracks.

"This is Teague Martin. In the wake of the chaos that has gripped our city these past months, I have taken the mantle of Lord Regent of the City of Dunwall, the Isle of Gristol, and all her imperial possessions, in addition to High Overseer of the Abbey of the Everyman. I give you, the people of Dunwall, three promises: One, that the Distillery District will be purged of all gangs, weepers, and lowlife there. Two, that the assassins known as Whalerss who have currently taken root in the Flooded District will be exterminated with full force. Three, that the man responsible for the death of our Empress, as well as both my predecessors, Thaddeus Campbell and Hiram Burrows, will be found, and he will be executed."

Cecelia looked at Corvo, worry and fear smeared across her face. "What do we do? Where can we go?"

Corvo had a plan, but it was risky. He was not sure whether the boat was even still there. But what he did know that anyone connected to the Loyalists was a target, and people might begin to wonder why the masked assassin had killed High Overseer Campbell, but spared Captain Curnow. Right now, he was Corvo's only hope.


	3. Chapter 3

As the guard patrolled the streets of the Distillery District, he had no idea how much danger he was in. Right above him was the most deadly man in Dunwall, and beside him, a woman who could see into the mind of any creature. As the guard faced a wall to relieve himself, an arm wrapped around his neck. He struggled, but the lack of air caused him to pass out.

"I could have done that for you" Corvo said.

"That's alright. It's fun, and I'm stronger than I look. This piece of whale bone sees to that." She gestured to a bone charm necklace. "Now, should we wait for him to wake up, or do you want me to search his mind now?"

"Which one will be faster?" Corvo wanted to learn Curnow's location, and get to him before Martin did. Cecelia thought about it, then used her Tethering power to grab water from a nearby faucet, and splashed in on his face.

"All yours." She said, somewhat playfully. "Just ask the questions and I can see what he's thinking."

Corvo grabbed the guard by the neck and held him up against a ledge. "What is the location of Geoff Curnow?"

"Captain Curnow? The one who was almost killed by that Corvo guy? I don't know." The guard looked fearful for his life.

"He's lying, but he's hiding his thoughts well. How are you doing that?" Cecelia seemed stunned at the guards attempts to resist.

"When Regent Burrows merged the Overseers and the City Watch, some of them taught us how to resist influences of the Overseers magic. I can keep my mind shielded from you, witch!" With that, he spat in Cecelia's face, prompting Corvo to shoot a crossbow bolt into the street below. At the sound, several Weepers that were nearby shuffled to just below the ledge.

"Have you ever seen a Weeper attack? I don't mean one or two, when you can just pick them off with your pistol. I mean a good 7 or 8 of them all coming at you at once. With rats, at least they're efficient. Weepers will rip you apart slowly and painfully. Now, do you want me to throw you into a crowd of them? Tell me, WHERE IS CAPTAIN GEOFF CURNOW?" Corvo was visibly angry, and was dangling the guards upper body over the railing, keeping a tight grip on his neck.

"He's stationed in the Estate District. At the Boyle Manor. But you'll never get there. The entire City Watch is pulling back there. We've abandoned the Distillery and Flooded Districts completely. I was one of the last to go. Please don't kill me!" The guard was pale white in the face. It reminded Corvo of the snow on the mountains of Serkonos. Hit with a sense of nostalgia, Corvo decided to be merciful, and slammed the guards head against the railing, knocking him unconscious.

Cecelia looked worried. "What do we do now? They're sure to have blocked off the Estate District completely"

"Not entirely. The canals would still be open, to allow food to come in. We can comandeer one of those." Corvo had a plan for how to make it past the Watch barricades.

Cecelia was unconvinced. "They'll be inspecting people. We'll need a guard to get in."

Corvo smiled "I have a plan for that" he said, eyeing the sleeping guard.


End file.
